Beauty
原文
Lesson 24
Beauty
What do glimpses of beauty, either in nature or art, often suggest to the human mind?
A young man sees a sunset and,
unable to understand or to express the emotion that it rouses in him,
concludes that it must be the gateway to a world that lies beyond
It is difficult for any of us in moments of intense aesthetic experience
to resist the suggestion that we are catching a glimpse of a light
that shines down to us from a different realm of existence, different and,
because the experience is intensely moving, in some way higher.
And, though the gleams blind and dazzle, yet do they convey a hint of beauty and serenity
greater than we have known or imagined. Greater too than we can describe;
for language, which was invented to convey the meanings of this world
cannot readily be fitted to the uses of another.
That all great art has this power of suggesting a world beyond is undeniable.
In some moods, nature shares it.
There is no sky in June so blue that it does not point forward to a bluer,
no sunset so beautiful that it does not waken the vision of a greater beauty,
a vision which passes before it is fully glimpsed,
and in passing leaves an indefinable longing and regret.
But, if this world is not merely a bad joke,
life a vulgar flare amid the cool radiance of the stars,
and existence an empty laugh braying across the mysteries;
if these intimations of a something behind and beyond
are not evil humour born of indigestion,
or whimsies sent by the devil to mock and madden us, if, in a word
beauty means something yet we must not seek to interpret the meaning.
If we glimpse the unutterable, it is unwise to try to utter it,
nor should we seek to invest with significance that which we cannot grasp.
Beauty in terms of our human meanings is meaningless.
译文
第24课
美丽
无论是自然界中的美景，还是艺术作品中的美感，它们往往能给人类的心灵带来怎样的启示呢？
一个年轻人看到了日落，
无法理解这种情感在他心中所引发的反应，也无法表达出自己所感受到的情绪。
得出结论：这一定是通往另一个未知世界的入口。
在那些充满强烈审美体验的时刻，我们任何人都很难抗拒这样一种想法：
我们似乎瞥见了某种光芒，
那种光芒是从另一个存在领域照射到我们这里的；那个领域与我们截然不同……
因为这种体验非常令人感动，从某种意义上来说，它的价值甚至更高（即这种体验带来的意义或影响更为深远）。
尽管那些光芒刺眼、令人眩目，但它们依然透露出一种美丽与宁静的气息。
比我们以往所知道或想象的都要伟大；同时也超出了我们的描述能力。
因为语言是为了传达这个世界的意义而创造的，
所以它很难被直接应用于其他目的。
在某些时刻，大自然本身也具备这种能力。
在某些心境下，大自然也具有这种力量。
六月的蓝天再蓝，也会让人向往更蓝的天空；
日落再美，也会唤起人们对更美之景的想象，
只留下一种难以言喻的渴望与遗憾。
但是，如果这个世界不仅仅是一个糟糕的玩笑，
如果生命不是在星辰冷冽光芒中的短暂闪光，
如果存在不是对那些神秘事物的徒劳嘲笑……
那么，这些关于“背后、超越这个世界的事物”的暗示，
就一定有着更深层的意义。
不是消化不良引起的坏情绪，
也不是魔鬼派来嘲笑和折磨我们的奇想——总之，
“美”确实蕴含着某种意义，但我们却不应试图去解读这种意义。
如果我们瞥见了那不可言说之物，试图言说它是不明智的，
我们也不应该试图赋予那些我们无法理解的事物以意义。
用人类的意义来衡量，美是没有意义的。